


Check, Please!

by Vri



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Check Please - Freeform, Coffee Dad, Happy Birthday Goro, M/M, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, No Metaverse, We Die Like Men, although there arent actually a lot of curse words, but just being careful, like the tv show, t for cursing, unbetaed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 06:05:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19056727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vri/pseuds/Vri
Summary: The small cafe Leblanc has suddenly made its appearance on a show called Check, Please! for its amazing coffee and curry.Akechi decides to go. He has a fondness for coffee, anyway, so it wouldn't hurt to try it out.Maybe because the barista on TV was pretty cute too, but that's not important.





	Check, Please!

**Author's Note:**

> legit ass had this idea while my mom was watching this show this morning. essentially, for those of you who don't know what the show is, its about a group of people who recommend restaurants to each other. they eat, meet up, and discuss their experiences with each other. and then the host went "share hidden gems..." and i went "OH SHIT LEBLANC."
> 
> and i also wanted to do something for pancake boy's birthday
> 
> i dont own p5 nor do i own check, please

"So, Nijima-san..." The host's voice came through the TV. In all truth, Goro hadn't really been paying much attention to it until he heard his coworker's name.  _Nijima? On TV?_ He looked up to see Nijima Sae, along with four other people. They were all sitting at a table, and they seemed to be engaging in some random conversation. "What's your spot?"

The prosecutor-turned-defense-attorney smiled indulgently, fingers lacing together. "It's nowhere special, really, but it's rather a fantastic place. It's a small cafe in Yongen-Jaya called Cafe Leblanc..." The name sounded familiar. Oh, right, Sae had recommended the place to him a few months back. He'd always been intending to go, but he just never had any time in his schedule to go. Oh, well.

As Sae was speaking about the place, the show transitioned to some shots of the cafe itself. It was small, very retro-style with booths and seats at the counter. All in all, it looked like a very...comforting, homey place to be in. Of course, the other people had comments on it, too. Goro paid attention to the people speaking again.

"So, Kawakami-san," the host started with a woman who seemed slightly older than Sae-san. "What thoughts do you have on Cafe Leblanc?"

The woman - Kawakami - chuckled softly. "It's a really nice place, which is kind of surprising to find in Yongen-Jaya. Not to say that all places there are terrible, but it's very off-the-radar. The first thing I noticed when I walked in was how nice it was there. It's just really comfortable in a weird way, you know? I felt like I could sleep there if I really wanted to, that's how relaxed the atmosphere was. The second thing was the intense coffee smell. You can tell that the owner, Sakura-san, puts a lot of care into his coffee.

"While I didn't order the curry," Kawakami continued, taking some time to brush some of her hair out of her eyes. "The coffee was absolutely splendid. I don't know much about coffee, so I just asked for the barista's recommendation. It was a, uh, really interesting cafe au lait, I believe? It had some kind of caramel-y hints, and overall it was really smooth and almost didn't taste like coffee - in a good way. It didn't have a lot of that really harsh bitterness that people often associate with coffee, but still had that really rich flavour."

The show then cut again to a sort of interview-type clip, with a slightly older man labeled "Sakura Sojiro, Owner." The man was saying something about how he "wanted to make sure people could have an absolutely perfect cup of coffee" and that "my protoge better not mess anything up." 

There was another cut and -  _shit_. The next person they were interviewing was really,  _really_ cute. He had scruffy black hair, large glasses, and grey eyes - nothing spectacular, but  _holy god_ was he attractive. "I'm just the only person that Boss has taught," he shrugged. Goro looked at the little caption of sorts. Kurusu Akira, 16, Barista. Huh, he was only a year younger than Goro.

He shut the TV off and stretched.

He'd have to go to Leblanc soon.

* * *

With a bit of talking, Goro managed to get a day off on his birthday. In retrospect, he hadn't  _meant_ for his day off to fall on his birthday. It had kind of just happened.

 _Well, I guess I'll think of it as celebrating my birthday for the first time in twelve years._ Goro thought to himself as he took a train to Yongen-Jaya.

The route there wasn't something he was familiar with. After all, he'd never had any reason to go to the small neighbourhood until Leblanc, so it's not like he would just go to a small place such as that without reason. He wondered if the place would still be relatively empty - adding to that homey atmosphere. Goro desperately hoped so.  He didn't want to admit why.

Cafe Leblanc was hard to find. That seemed to have been why the small cafe was so anonymous to anyone outside of Yongen-Jaya. That was also probably why there wasn't a crowd around it as well.  _How hilarious - people can't find it even after seeing it on TV._ But there it stood, tucked away nice and neat in an alley. "Cafe Leblanc. Coffee and curry." Goro read the sign out loud, humming to himself. "This is definitely the place."

Door bells jingled as the detective entered the store, and the brunet looked around. "So this is Cafe Leblanc..." he mused. As if on cue, a boy walked out of where the kitchen presumably was and  _oh_. He was the very attractive barista.

"Welcome to Leblanc." The boy said simply, tilting his head at Goro. "Are you new to the area?" An astute observation. Although, a place like this probably didn't get many people outside from regulars, so it couldn't have been that hard to figure out. "Take your time figuring stuff out. There probably won't be anyone waiting for you to hurry."  _Great, he also has a sense of humour - and he said it all with a straight face._

Goro just smiled at the barista. "I'll just have whatever coffee you recommend." He replied softly, sitting down at the counter, second stool from the window. He placed his phone face-up on the countertop and watched the young barista prepare his drink.

The boy - right, his name was Kurusu - seemed to have a very natural, fluid grace about him. It was almost uncanny how utterly silent he was when he moved.  _He'd make a good thief. Or a phantom. Or maybe both._ Goro thought to himself as Kurusu came up to him with his finished drink. "This isn't a cafe au lait." Goro muttered when the steaming cup was set in front of him.

"Oh, right," Kurusu blinked. "The TV show. I make guesses about what different people will like." He replied. Grey eyes darted off to the side before returning to Goro. "Sorry, were you expecting what I gave Kawakami-san?"

Goro chuckled softly, taking a sip of the coffee.  _It really is good._ "Well, I suppose - although I'm unopposed to this." He amended placidly, looking down at the cup. "What blend is this? I'd like to know what to order when I come again."

"'When you come again,' huh?" Kurusu shot Goro a small grin. "Doppio. I figured you don't get much sleep. Except I prepared it kind of like a Caffee Gommosa - poured it over a marshmallow. You look like the kind of guy to like sweets."

Goro was, well, amazed. To think that Kurusu would be able to read that much into him within such a short amount of time. "Have you thought about becoming a detective, Kurusu-kun? You're quite perceptive." He commented as he sipped at his slightly-altered espresso drink. "I think that you would be quite good at it."

He only received a hum in response. Kurusu had retreated into the kitchen doing who-knows-what. While the barista was out, Goro peeked at his phone. A text from Sae.

**Nijima Sae (11:03 AM): Happy birthday, Akechi-kun.**

Unlocking his phone, Goro quickly typed out a response.

**Me (11:17 AM): Thank you, Sae-san.**

Goro finished his coffee and was just about to leave his money on the table when Kurusu came back with - a plate of curry?

"I-I didn't order this?" Goro blinked in confusion. Well, he had asked the barista for "whatever he recommended," but he thought that would have only applied to the coffee...?

Kurusu merely shrugged. "I know. It's on the house. Happy birthday."

**Author's Note:**

> its not june 2nd yet but im sure its goros birthday somewhere in the world rn
> 
> how did akira know? winkity wonk its obvious tbh


End file.
